EcoWalk Exceeds Its Goal!

This is a great community story. I just love the way we come together when there’s a worthwhile opportunity to do so.

EcoWalk is a project with the “goal [of] … tak[ing] an underused area of the [Sag Harbor Elementary] school and transform[ing] it into a beautiful, usable, educational area for the children and community to use, as well as educate them about the origins and importance of various ecosystems.” EcoWorks, Ltd., the non-profit behind EcoWalk, has been raising money for phase II of the project over at kickstarter.com for the past few months. The goal was to raise $10,000 by January 5th. As of 9:00 p.m. on January 4th, that goal had been surpassed by over $1,000.

When I checked the Kickstarter site a few days ago, EcoWalk was still about $3,000 short. But, a last-minute e-mail blast from EcoWorks rallied support, and the Sag Harbor community came through for this worthwhile project.

That’s very good news, because the way Kickstarter works is that a project lists itself on their website, sets a financial goal and a deadline, and then Kickstarter starts accepting pledges. If the goal is met by the deadline, Kickstarter collects the money pledged and turns it over to the project organizers. If the goal is not met, no money is collected, and the organizers get nothing. It’s just Kickstarter’s way of making sure that the money people pledge will go to a viable project. It makes sense, but, can be stressful when the deadline is approaching and the goal still hasn’t been met. It sure is a relief to see that EcoWalk has reached its goal, and not lost out on everything by falling a few dollars short.

If you’re not familiar with EcoWalk, you can visit their Facebook page to find out more. There’s a very nice video there that shows the work that was done during the initial phase of the project.

When completed, it is hoped that EcoWalk will link the campus of the Elementary School to that of Pierson Middle/High School. I’m particularly excited about this part of the plan as it provides an opportunity to calm a very busy intersection adjacent to the two schools, and will hopefully allow the schools and the community to engage in a bit of creative “placemaking.” (I’ll be writing more about placemaking in future blog posts. Stay tuned.)

One Response to EcoWalk Exceeds Its Goal!

Thanks for the post Eric. Loved the EcoWalk. What a great transition into/out-of school. A great example of how to be educated while enjoying the scenery. And having the students participate in the planting, tending and harvesting is exemplary. So glad you are sharing this so other schools can be inspired too.